B-I-N-G-O!

My girls and I spent the evening at Bingo World! It was my first time to play Bingo, other than on our cruise. I had no idea it was such a serious game. There was no time to talk for fear of missing a number. We had a lot of laughs over the gentleman seated next to me who had tpo announce to everyone what numbers he was lacking at the end of each game. He was crazy.

We didn't have any winners in our group, but we're ready to go again! Who says there's nothing to do in a small town?!?

Ten Things I'm Thankful For:

10. warm blankets-it's cold here tonight
9. quality lip balm-my new lip balm from BeautiControl makes my lips so soft
8. Greg's parents' willingness to let Carson stay over whenever he wants
7. good friends-I'm lucky enough to have several of them
6. New nightshirts-Greg's mom gave me a new hot pink night shirt that is so comfy
5. a good book-I've read three of them in a row
4. Greg's job- you can't beat getting a $130 hotel room for the $29 employee rate. We made three St Louis reservations today
3. payday-Friday cannot come soon enough
2. maturity-things certainly look different at almost 32 than they did at almost 22
1. flannel sheets-they're calling my name tonight

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.

Tiny Fingers, Tiny Toes

I took my class on a field trip to a local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit tonight. The students enjoyed the trip, as always. It's always interesting to watch their reactions. I can ususally tell who will continue on in the field and who will realize that this is not the careeer for them. Seeing tiny sick babies for the first time is pretty unnerving. I have been in the NICU many times since Carson was born and tonight was the first time I was able to look at the tiniest babies and think I could do it again if I had to. Hopefully I'll have a normal pregnancy when we try again, but if not, I realized tonight that I could handle it if things didn't go as planned again. We'll see what the year brings. No, we're not ready to try again quite yet. :)

We celebrated my dad's birthday on Sunday with a celebratory dinner at Pizza Inn. Grandma treated us all to dinner. My aunt, uncle, cousin, and his girlfriend joined my entire family, and we chatted and ate for an hour and a half. We stayed so long that Greg sampled just about every variety of pizza offered on the buffet. We're done with birthdays until mine in April.

I don't have any travel for work this week, which is a nice break. We'll be taking a quick trip to St Louis this weekend to get Carson some shoes to wear with the braces he is getting tomorrow. I need to pick up the Bunco prizes for March, so some other shopping will be in order too. Yay!

I've been spending lots of time researching our vacation. I think we'll be booking very soon. I have no intention of going to Disney World pregnant, so I'm looking at at least 11 months or so to really get in shape. I've been doing well with Weight Watchers and have reconnected with a friend from high school at my meetings, so I am motivated to become a Skinny Minnie for Disney and a baby! I even snuck in some exercise yesterday. Anyone local want to walk with me?

I finished Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult and it was a great read. I picked up another Jodi Picoult book, Nineteen Minutes, at the library, so I'm off to read a little before bed. Leave me a comment about any great reads you've found lately and I may just have a little drawing for those who share a book suggestion. Thanks for checking in!

Crop, Cake, Capitol, Cabbage, and Clues

We had a very lazy Saturday. I slept in and then went to see a baby who ended up not being home. I am going to have to seriously consider if I am willing to keep scheduling a 1:00 Saturday appointment for a family who is very unpredictable. I came back home and spent most of the day watching the Food Network and reruns of Extreme Makeover while surfing the net.


Most of my time was spent on the DisBoards, researching info for our trip. I am really considering going ahead and booking the trip next week so I can start making payments. I think we'll do better being forced to pay on it rather than saving on our own and booking later. Something else always seems to come up and I end up transferring the vacation money, then scrounging for it later. Plus, I want to be able to make our dining reservations as soon as possible since we're going to try the Disney Dining Plan this time. I am thinking we'll end up going the second week of December. So far, it looks like we'll stay on the property at the Pop Century resort, unless a good deal comes along for one of the moderate resorts. We're never in our room, though, so it's probably not worth the extra money. Any opinions from fellow Disney vacationers? I 'll take any hints/tips/advice you have to share. At least 10 DisneyWorld commercials came on TV while was looking at the DisBoards, I would like to think that this is a sign that I am indeed going to Disney World in December. (That would be the Clues portion of today's entry title.)


I ran across this thread on the budget section of the DisBoards. It literally had dozens of pages of thrifty meal ideas. It really did make me think about how much money we're spending on eating out. It is really ridiculous when I see how little it costs the people on the message board to make meals at home. I'm actually fired up to eat at home and put the rest of the money into our trip fund. Take a look: Budget Meal Ideas



I had a great time with the girls at our crop last night. I got all of my loose recipes copied onto recipe cards and organized in my new recipe box. I'll have to show it to you later because it's way too cold to get it out of the van right now. Here 's a pic of the girls hard at work.

The Elvis Presley Cake was a huge hit! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Prepare cake according to instructions on package. Bake in a 9x13 inch pan. Allow to cool. Poke holes in cake with fork. Combine pineapple and sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Spoon over cooled cake. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Spread cream cheese frosting over cake. Sprinkle pecans on top of frosting.

I cooked again tonight. Everything was really yummy, although this picture isn't looking too appetizing right now!

I fixed oven BBQ'd pork steaks, baked beans, and fried cabbage. The cabbage was suprisingly low cal for being fried. It was super easy too.

1 head cababge, cored and chopped into bite size pieces

3 slices bacon, fried and chopped

garlic salt

pepper

1 Tbs water

Fry bacon until crisp, then remove, leaving grease in pan. Add cabbage, garlic salt, pepper, and water. Fry, stirring often for 15 minutes or until soft. Stir in chopped bacon.

Only 50 calories per serving!

Not much on the agenda tomorrow, other than church. Here's a picture that I snapped as I was coming across the bridge into Jefferson City last week. The capitol building is pretty much the only attractive thing in Jefferson City. The rest of the town is in serious need of an update.

That's it for tonight. Have a great Sunday!

I'm still here!

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I ended up getting sick in my hotel room in Jefferson City on Tuesday evening and I felt like crap on Wednesday and Thursday. I drug myself to the Jefferson City Target and stocked up on medical supplies. I had a humidifer running, Nyquil and Vick's as well as Johnson's Vapor Bath for a nice long soak in the tub. I have severe asthma, so when I get the least bit sick, I have a really hard time breathing. Unfortunately, my room was right by the elevator, so I heard "Ding!Ding!" all night long. I didn't sleep much at all. The drive home on Wednesday was not fun.

Yesterday we got round two of the Great Missouri Ice Storm. Luckily, this one wasn't as large as the first. We still have power this time. Carson and I stayed home all day yesterday and watched the sleet and freezing rain accumulate. Greg got to come home early. The main roads are clear, but the side roads are horrible. I literally had to crawl up the icy steps of my therapy baby's house this morning. I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed seeing that!

Mom had her appointment at the cancer center yesterday. She will begin chemo in a few weeks. They did find that she has a decent size mass in her abdomen, not just the original mass that they found in Cape. She also has a spot in her chest, but they aren't too concerned about that one right now. She ordered her wig today and is ready to get the show on the road. Her doctor told her that this type of cancer has a good prognosis and that she will most likely be in remission after the chemo. She's also signed up to participate in a research study that is showing promising long-term remission results.

Greg's parents returned last night from a cruise to Mexico. It did not go well. They left Saturday, then woke up Sunday to find that they were back in Alabama because someone had a heart attack on the ship and had to be taken to the hospital. They left again late Sunday morning and found out that one their stops had been canceled due to the delay. The next two nights, they were storms at sea. They had water seeping through their cabin window and there were barf bags taped to the hallways because so many people were sick. So far, they are being offered a $25 refund. I don't think they'll sail with Carnival again.

I'm off to finish making an Elvis Presley cake for our scrapbook crop tonight. If it's good, I'll post the recipe. I'll be spending my crop time finishing a super-cute recipe box that I made for myself. I want all of my recipes in one place. I have the box and dividers finished, but I have lots of recipes to copy onto cards. Have a great weekend!

A Mighty Good Man

A little late Valentines Day Meme: Feel free to use it on your own blog!

What's one physical characteristic that you love about your mate? His smile. He smiles all the time and aren't those some straight teeth?

What's one personality trait that stands out about your mate? His even temper. He rolls with the punches and literally almost never gets upset about anything. His motto for life: Eh, it'll be alright.

How long have you been together? Since June 22, 1996. He took me home to meet his mom on our first date. We've been together ever since. Married? Since May 22, 1998. Almost 9 years!

Would you say that you loved your husband first for his brains, his brawn or his bankbook?

hmmm..I will admit that the red sports car and his insistence on paying for everything was pretty nice...the car has since been sold and I paid for dinner tonight, as usual

Did you pick out your ring or did he surprise you with it? He picked the loose stone himself and had it set in a simple band just like I had always wanted

How did you choose where to be married? It was interesting. There was a time when I was actually thinking about being married in the Catholic church since his whole family is Catholic. We eventually agreed to get married in my church, where Greg can now be found every Thursday and Sunday. He loves being part of our church.

How is your marriage different than it was the day you married? It's very real now. We have been through some pretty rough stuff in the last 9 years, everything from job loss to almost losing Carson when he was born, then working together to give him the best therapies and watching him grow into the coolest little man. We don't get rattled too much anymore. (Unless you count my rants about open closet doors and dishes not being put away.)

What do you love the most about your mate? He is very giving. He would literally give you the shirt off his back if you said you needed it.

What's something that you do to keep your marriage happy? We go away together. Even it's just to St Louis for the weekend, we love spending time as a couple.

List one word to describe your mate for every year that you've been together.

Faithful

Honest

Silly

Smart

Great Daddy

Grillmaster

Loving

Caring

Babies and Birthdays

I held Riley all through church today. He was bright-eyed until the very end, then he instantly crashed. After church we went out to eat for brunch, then I hurried home to make my friend, Shar's, yummy chicken salad for Brittany's baby shower. This chicken salad has become a staple at all of our wedding and baby showers. Heaven knows we've had a few of those in the last year or so!

Croissant Chicken Salad

(this makes enough for a crowd)

3 cans chicken breast, drained and flaked

1/2 bunch of green onions, finely chopped

3 stalks of celery, finely chopped

1 Tbs dry mustard, or more to taste

2 tsp garlic powder

Mayonaise

Miracle Whip

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use equal parts mayo and mayonaise to get the consistency you like. We like it pretty creamy. Serve on croissants or dollar rolls.

We had about 25 people at the baby shower. Mom's power went out just before the guests arrived, so we had a candlelight snack and the power came on just before Brittany opened the gifts. She got lots of cute things. Juli and I decided that I'll need another baby shower if I have another baby. She pointed out that there may have been many technological advances in baby gear since I had Carson 6 1/2 years ago. I'll go for that. :)

After the shower the husbands joined us for dinner in celebration of Juli's 23rd birthday. Mom made all of her favorites including meat loaf, mashed potatoes, cheesy vegetables, and hot rolls. I took her a bowl of dumplings from yesterday and made Poppyseed Chicken. It was all very good, but I'm dreading my weigh-in at Weight Watchers tomorow! Doesn't Ash look excited about the cake? Happy Birthday Jules!

I'm in the office tomorrow then leaving for Jefferson City on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll make a little further up the road this time! Have a great week!

Hereos, Housework, and Home Cooking

Around 5:00 Friday morning I awoke to the now familiar sound of a limb cracking and crashing into our newly repaired power lines. The electricty went off immediately. Greg called the electric company and we were assured they would send technicians as soon as possible. I went back to sleep and woke up at 7:30. The temperature was already down to 55 degrees in the house. Luckily, these guys showed up around 10:00. They couldn't get their bucket trucks into our backyard due to all of the downed trees, so they climbed the poll. I have a new respect for these guys. They literally put on spiked shoes and scaled the pole in less than a minute. They had the power back on by 11:30. So far, it's stayed on. I have new hereos.




I spent today deep cleaning the house. I have almost all of the laundry washed and put away. I reorgized my closet and came up with another load of stuff to take to Goodwill. I am liking how much neater things stay when you pare down the posessions.




Tonight I made an all time favorite of the Franklin household, Chicken and Dumplings. These are southern style dumplings, so if you're looking for those strange biscuity type dough balls, you've come to the wrong place. My dumplings are medium thickness. I grew up with my Grandma Mungle's thick doughy dumplings and Greg grew up on his mom's very thin dumplings, so we comprimise. I only use boneless, skinless chicken breasts because I can't deal with dark meat and that yucky chicken skin and residue that comes from using a whole chicken. Here's the recipe:



Amy's Chicken and Dumplings

64 oz (2 boxes) chicken broth, more if you like your dumplings soupy
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 chicken bouillon cubes
salt and pepper
4 cups flour
1 stick butter or margarine



Cook chicken breasts by baking or boiling. I like to cook them with broth in the crockpot if I have time. Remove chicken from broth and let cool. Tear into bite sized pieces when cool.


Add bouillon cubes to broth and bring to a boil.

Cut butter into flour in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 cup boiling broth and stir until a loose ball forms. Remove from bowl (careful, it's hot!) and knead a few times. Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness on a generously floured surface. Cut into 1 inch strips. I use my big pizza cutter. Drop dumplings one at a time into boiling broth, stretching dumplings as you drop them. Cook for 10 minutes. You can shake the pan to seperate the dumplings, but do not stir with a spoon.

Add chicken and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

I also made corn muffins, green beans, and cream cheese mashed potatoes. Yum!

Mom is keeping Riley tonight, so Carson and I made a run to her house so I could get some snuggle time. He is getting so chubby and chatty!

Tomorrow we have church, then Mom, Juli, and I are hosting a baby shower for my cousin's girlfriend, Brittany. She is due with a boy on March 31. She's a very sweet girl and we're looking forward to having another baby to cuddle.

I'm tired! I'm going to read in bed. I finally finished The Thirteenth Tale about a week ago. It was very strange, but I'm glad I read it. I've moved on to Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. It's about an Amish girl accused of murdering her illegitmate baby. So far, it's very good. Goodnight!

Greetings from the Arctic

We are alive! This is an epic length post, so good luck! Here's a recap of what we've done this week:

Monday: It literally started sleeting the minute I left the office for my Jefferson City trip. I made it to Enterprise car rental where they had nothing but minivans left to choose from. I get the van, get on the interstate and stop 5 times between Jackson and Fruitland (7 miles away) to clean ice off the windshield. I exit with all the other people on the highway and decide there is no way I'll make it to St Louis, much less Jefferson City. I call my St Louis coworkers and tell them I'm not making the trip, then drive 35 miles an hour home on the now ice covered road. I park the rental van in the driveway and seek shelter inside. Greg gets home 2 hours later and we decide to leave Carson at MeMaw and PawPaw's house due to the weather. We snuggle in to watch TV and I have the foresight to turn on the electric blanket on our bed. It continues to sleet/ice/rain and covers the trees and power lines. The power goes out at 10:17 pm. We go to bed, which is at least warm from the blanket. We do not sleep because the sound of limbs cracking and hitting the roof sounds like bombs going off all night.

Tuesday: It is really freaking cold in the house and we have no power, no internet, and no phone. We live outside the city limits, so we have a well for water. No electric means no well pump to get water. We turn on the radio to learn that 11,000 people are without power, including both sets of parents and my grandmother. My grandma leaves with my uncle to his home, where there is a wood stove for heat, and both of our parents stay home near their fireplaces. The Enterprise van is firmly stuck in the ice in our driveway. Our van is realtively ice free under the carport. We light the gas fireplace, light candles, and eat cereal. I take a flashlight to the basement to dig out scrapping supplies and park my butt in front of the fireplace for most of the day. I light our gas stove and make soup with the stuff that is defrosting in our freezer. Greg takes hot soup to our elderly neighbors and goes for a walk. He reports that the neighborhood looks like a war zone with power lines down everywhere and broken trees and limbs all over the road. There are 5 inches of ice on our driveway. No one is leaving their houses. We use cell phones to report the outages of our phone, internet, and power. I try to convince myself that this is an adventure. At 2:00, I can't stand it and we leave the house. We discover that my office has heat and power and stop there briefly to get warm. We drive around looking at the damage and make a trip to Walmart with everyone else in town. We run into Rob and Becky, who also don't have power. We make a stop at El Torero, which does have power, for some dinner. I really stink at this point, but so does everyone else in town. At 9:00 pm, we decide to try to sleep. I am now wearing polar fleece pants, two pairs of wool socks, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, polar fleece jacket, sock cap and hood to bed. I cover up with 2 fleece blankets and a down comforter. It is 50 degrees when we go to sleep. I am really wishing I had showered Monday night. (It's also Mom's birthday. It wasn't the most festive day.)

Wednesday: It is 42 freaking degrees in the living room when we wake up. I pack a bag, drop Greg off at work, and slowly make my way to his aunt's house where there is power and hot water. I shower then head back to the office, which is supposed to open at 1:00, to use the internet and check the status of our power, phone, and internet service calls. I dioscover that the ceiling has leaked all over two of my coworkers' desks and destroyed everything in their workspaces. I stay for several hours working on odds and ends, then attempt to go see two of my therapy babies, but can't get the van up the hill into their neighborhood. I meet Mom at her friend Marcia's house for some lunch, since Marcia now has power. The university ends up staying closed all day, so I head to Grandma Pat's since she now has electricity. PawPaw is finally able to leave their house, so he brings Carson in to town and drops him off with me. He and MeMaw finish packing for their cruise to Mexico, which they had planned to leave early for today, but decide to wait until early morning. We pick up Greg at work and decide to run home for clothes and spend the night at Grandma Pat's. It is 40 degrees in the house when we stop by. The Enterprise van, which was due back this morning, is still firmly stuck in the ice. We sleep well in Grandma's warm house and awake to aroma of sausage and eggs.

Thursday: I take Greg to work again, then run by our house. It's back up to 42 in the dining room. Still no power or phone services and no way to check for internet service. The Enterprise van still won't budge. Carson and I drive Grandma to the grocery store and hang out at her house. By 2:00 the icicles are rapidly melting and the temperature outside is up to 38 degrees. I decide that I am going to free the Enterprise van if I have to boil water on the stove and dump it on the ice. I arrive home to find the power, phone, and internet back on. Praise sweet Jesus in Heaven! I have never been happier to hear the furnace run! I decide to give the van one more try and it comes right out of the ice!!! I take it back to Enterprise where the guys have to push our car up a hill and out of the parking lot because it's still so slippery. I pick up Carson at Grandma's and we pick up Greg at work. We had a celebratory dinner at Chan's Chinese Restaurant and have been home in our toasty house watching satellite, reading email, and roaming around the house in a sinlge layer of clothing! I love electricty!!!

I am so looking foward to staying home and getting things back in order for the next three days. I can now say with certainty that I hate camping and that if I am ever offered a job in Florida, I will be packing my bags in a heartbeat. Have a great Friday and thanks for checking back in after my hiatus!

Carson's Valentine Party!

Carson hosted his very first Valentine party today. We were glad that lots of friends were able to come and everyone had a great time. We didn't hear from several people, so hopefully there wasn't a problem with people getting the invitations. I made chocolate play dough and the kids had a blast rolling and cutting the dough. We decorated cookies, made Valentines , had a cake walk,and had a huge Valentine card swap. This may have to be an annual event!

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Playdough

2 cups water
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbs cream of tartar
2 Tbsvegetable oil
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa

Boil water and salt. Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined. Cool, then knead until smooth.

Tomorrow I leave for an overnight trip to Jefferson City. I'm picking up two very entertaiing traveling companions in St. Louis, so I'm sure some fun will be had! Wednesday I'm in the office, then it's four days off for me. I can't wait! Have a wonderful week and thanks for checking in!

And when you figure out love is all that matters after all, it sure makes everything else seem so small.

Just for fun

Blognapped from Sophia's Blog
One thing I won’t let my husband buy me…clothes. I buy his, otherwise he'd be naked.
One thing I would love to have, but I probably will never have…a home near the beach
One thing you will never find in my closet…high heels. I hate them.
One thing I would choose if I were having elective surgery...a chest reduction and lift
One thing I love about my face…my eyes.
One thing that I love to do…talk to and watch people
One thing I would like to change if I could…nothing, everything happens for a reason
One thing I would change as a mom…I'd relax more, but I'm not wired that way.
One thing I would do if I had unlimited money…get my family outfitted with large, matching , black SUV's (then donate a bunch of money to alternative fuel research to ease my conscience)
One thing I that I will not do again… I never say never
One thing that I would like to do…get caught up on my scrapbooks, I am way too controlling to relax and just scrapbook for the creativity
One thing I could do without...I've already given away about half of our posessions, so I'm good for now
One thing I love to smell…freshly bathed babies
One thing I would do if I won the lottery…start my own foundation to help people with disabilities
One thing that infuriates me...welfare fraud. I see it all the time in my job.
One thing that I love about winter…being inside. I don't like the outdoors a whole lot.
One thing I love about scrapbooking….the friendships I have formed with fellow scrappers
One thing I am addicted to…blogs and twopeasinabucket.com
One thing I pray for…strength to make it through anything that comes my way
One thing I wish I had… the ability to get by on very little sleep
One thing I would do again, regardless of the pain…be a mom
One thing that I absolutely hate to do…match the socks in the laundry pile
One thing that is weird about me…My pants have to go on before my shirt, or I'm convinced I'll have a bad day
One thing that I need help on…understaning how the computer works
One thing I find most relaxing.. reading in my bed under the electric blanket
One thing that could get me in trouble…staying up until early morning reading
One thing that annoys me…open cupboards and closet doors.
One thing I dread; therefore, don’t do very often....go to Walmart
One thing that I have learned, but still sometimes forget…that I am not in charge of the whole world

Brenda's, Bunco, and Buddies

Today was better! I got a lot done at work and had a terrific time at lunch with three of my work buddies. We laughed and laughed. We went to Brenda's Place which is a little bitty hole-in-the-wall place in the the "ghetto" of Cape Girardeau. Cape doesn't really have much crime, but the south side is a much poorer area of town. Brenda's is reasonably priced home cooking. I had the pulled pork BBQ plate lunch and a ginormous piece of coconut cream pie that I split with Christy. Yum-yum!

Tonight I had dinner at Logan's with my mom, mother-in-law and our friend, Carol, before we went to Bunco. I'm glad Mom decided to go. Our friend, Linda, surprised us by bringing a Gin Bucket to Bunco. It's yummy and doesn't really have enough gin to do more than lift your spirits a bit. :) I ended up rolling 4 Buncos and won the biggest prize-A Red Lobster gift card!

A few people have asked about the music on my blog. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, you can see the music player. It tells you the name of the song and artist. You can even scroll through the list and pick another song if you'd like. It's mostly contemporary Christian, country, a little pop, and a touch of Van Halen for good measure and because sometimes, you just have to rock. :)

Tomorrow we get to sleep in and then head to Cape at 1:00 to finish Carson's speech evaluation. I have to work in Kennett, 2 hours away, all day Saturday. I'm not too excited about that. Carson is hosting a Valentine party for his friends on Sunday and we still have a lot to do.
However, tonight I am headed for bed. Have a fantastic Friday.

Amy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I am trying to add a little comic relief to today's events through my title. I'm not at all making light of what all happened today, just needing a little stress relief. It's a reference to this book, which is on the must-read list for preschoolers:

I'm feeling very much like Alexander today.

So, here goes:

My mom has cancer. She was diagnosed with follicular non-Hodgkins lymphoma of the abdomen. The lemon-sized tumor is not in her intestine, but rather in her abdomen near her intestines. The good news is that this cancer is very treatable. The bad news is that she'll probably need chemo. She is going to a cancer center in St Louis next week to determine a treatment plan.

The other news is that Carson needs another eye surgery. He is seeing very well when looking down to read, but not so well when he needs to look up to watch TV or see a chalkboard (if he was in school). He hasn't had surgery since he was 3, so this could be very different. It will just be outpatient surgery, but he's developed fear of most things medical in the last three years. At least he won't have to stay overnight. He's scheduled for surgery March 11.

I also had some other work-related stress today and just about threw in the towel and gave up. I sucked it up until 4, then went to see my therapy baby. I felt much better after getting some cuddle time and sweet smiles from the little guy.

Tomorrow will be better.

Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.-Mary McLeod Bethune

Auntie Em? Uncle Henry?

About 35 minutes into my class tonight my Sikeston class suddenly disappeared from the ITV screen. They reconnected about a minute later, just as the campus tornado sirens began to sound. At the same moment, an ITV tech called the phone in my room and said, "Evacuate your students to the basement immediately." We quickly said goodbye to the two distance learning sites and headed downstairs. We waited about 15 minutes until the sirens stopped and we were given the all clear. I let them all go home. It was way too much excitement for one night.

The weather here is crazy. Last Thursday we had 4 inches of snow on the ground and today we hit 72 degrees by lunch time. The storms that are going on now are predicted to be some of the worst we've had in recent years. Tomorrow's high is only 39.

I made it to Weight Watchers yesterday! It was good to get back in the swing of things. I've been drinking my water and counting my points.

Tomorrow I have to take Carson to the eye doctor. I have a feeling she'll say he needs another eye surgery. He's not using both eyes together and is relying heavily on moving his head instead of his eyes. He hasn't had a surgery since he was three. This might not be pleasant.

Mom's appointment is at 10 tomorrow. I'll let everyone know what's going on as soon as I can. I can't post to my blog at work, so check back tomorrow evening. Thanks again for all of the prayers!

Road Trip

A brief recap of the day:

We went to church. It was rough. They announced that Mom was awaiting her test results and asked the congregation to pray for her. It's great to know that she's got lots of prayers going up. Her appointment is actually on Wednesday, not Friday, so just a few more days to wait.

After church we immediately hopped in the van and went to St Louis Mills Mall for the afternoon. We enjoyed lunch at Chevy's, shopped the entire mall, got groceries at Trader Joe's, then stopped at the Waffle House for a quick dinner on the way home. Chocolate Chip Pecan Waffles. Could there be anything more sinful than chocolate and syrup for supper?

I'm actually pretty freaked out about my weight and eating habits with everything going on with Mom. I stocked up on lean meats, veggies, fruits, and whole grains at Trader Joe's so I can get back on track with Weight Watchers tomorrow. Please scold me if I don't blog about attending a meeting tomorrow. I'm going to have to start treating my meetings like AA meetings and get this stupid weight off.

Alert: I think I may have had some mild stirrings of baby fever at Gymboree today. Those sweet tiny outfits were calling to me. I need a girl to dress up. Reason number two to get myself to a meeting tomorrow.

I got some great deals on candles today. I got Sparkling Cinnamon and Autumn Leaves Yankee Candles and an Indian Summer Colonial Candle. I almost like Colonial Candles as much Yankee. Sure, they're fall and winter scents, but they still smell good and I've got a few more months of cool weather to get through, and they were 50% off. I also got a set of new sheet pans like the Pioneer Woman uses. I've been eyeing those for awhile. You'll also see a new heart cookie cutter and sprinkles for Carson's party, as well as some silicon cupcake holders that I'm using to pack my new healthy lunches. More on that later.

I am off to bed to finish reading The Thirteenth Tale. I've had a hard time with this story and have had to put it down a few times. It's a good book, it just has a disturbing, dysfunctional family history playing out that's a bit hard to take at times. I don't do disturbing well.

Have a fabulous week!

Small Town Mani/Pedi, Frog, and Ralphie's Demise

I live in a small town. There are two nail salons in town. I can only go to one of them due to a very weird situation at the the other one. Long story short, one of the girls that works at the other salon has the hots for my husband and has made it known to a few of my friends that she would like to bed him. She used to be our hairstylist. Not so much anymore. So anyway, I went to the other one today for a mani/pedi. My feet were wintry and dry and my fingernails had seen better days since I had my acrylic nails taken off last week. They were crowded which meant I got extra soaking time in the pedicure chair. Heaven. By the time I left 2 hours later, I had talked with a girl I went to high school with who I hadn't seen since graduation, figured out that it was my nail tech's birthday, shared my recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip with two ladies, discussed the pros and cons of each St. Louis shopping mall, and left with a fresh coat of "Berry Good Dancer" on my fingers and toes. Ah, life in a small town.



I also evaluated an adorable little boy today. He hopped right up on my lap and snuggled in. I love it when they're agreeable and cuddly.


I've spent the majority of the afternoon and evening surfing the net and watching the tube. AMC has Father of the Bride on now, with Father of the Bride II following. I just told Greg that it's like my perfect channel. He said it's like his perfect Hell. He really is a romantic at heart, but has to put on the tortured husband routine to do his part for the species.

Ralphie is on a downward spiral. It was very warm today and he did not fare well. I think he'll be gone tomorrow.

And now, a picture of Carson and his new frog. He really wanted a picture of the frog on my blog.

I am halfway considering making a St Louis run tomorrow. I feel like a road trip to a big scrapbook store and maybe a Trader Joe's run. So far, Greg is not on board, but the night is young and I've still got plenty of pestering left in me. Gotta go! Part II has begun.

Ralphie the Snowman

Carson was so excited to get to use the snowman kit he got for Christmas. He and Greg were outside the minute Greg got home yesterday. The snow was perfect for building a snowman. Carson informed us that the snowman's name was Ralph. He's an original. They built him facing our house, so Carson kept going to the window to check on Ralphie until it got dark. Ralphie was leaning quite a bit this morning, but so far, he's still standing. He must have had a rough night.

We ended up venturing out today, even though I had planned on staying home. The roads were fine once we got the van out of the driveway. We went to the university for Carson's speech evaluation and he did great, especially considering it lasted two hours and we're only halfway finished. We'll go back next Friday for the second half.

My mom is home and is feeling fine. She'll get the results of her biopsies on Friday. If it is cancer, it appears to be lymphoma, which is one of the most curable cancers. Keep those prayers coming!

I spent the morning getting the house back in order and surfing the net. We came back home for a few hours after the speech eval, then went out to eat when Greg got home. We went out for Mexican, but I noticed on the way to Casa Mexicana that our new Chinese restaurant is open. We may have to try it after church on Sunday. We only have one other Chinese restaurant in our little town, so this is a big deal. This evening I put together treat bags for the Valentine party Carson is hosting. (Who says homeschoolers don't socialize?) I also managed to get pictures adhered to 2 scrapbook swap layouts. If I just did two a night, I could make a lot of progress. I plan to work on more tomorrow when I get home from work. I have two babies to see. I'm not quite sure how I started taking weekend kids again, but at least I'm done early and the money is good.

I'm actually glad we went out today. The snow is beautiful, and it will be gone very soon. The high on Sunday is going to be close to 60! Southeast Missouri is one crazy place! Have a great weekend!

Tagged

by Yvonne

Well, so this is the way it goes....
the rules.....1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details.)

E-Extraordinary: the kids I get the honor of working with every day
L-Love: the only reason I can do my job every day
I-Intelligence: a gift I am eternally thankful for since it appears very hard to function without it :)
Z-zeal NOUN: Enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance. AKA What I have for children's issues, women's issues, and pretty much anything else that I feel is not right with the world. It's tiring sometimes.
A- Affection: what my son has been very free with lately. Lots of "I Love You's" are flying around here
B-Beach: One of my two favorite destinations
E- Eggly: one of many childhood nicknames
T-Time: what I always run out of. I like to plan lots to do
H-Health: something I really need to take more seriously

I am tagging:
E-I don't know any E bloggers
L-Liz in Florida, Lilian in Utah
I-none
Z-none
A-none
B-Becky and Rebecca
E-none
T-The Four of Clubbs
H- Heather Fisher, Heather D. White